


News

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [21]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1661948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Phil gets news</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Phil squeezed Clint’s hand to reassure the archer.  _Everything was going to be fine. It was going to be. It had to be._

The doctor walked back in, looking over his records. Up at Phil and back down to his records. He sighs, puts down the clipboard and clasps his hands together.

"I don’t want to sugar coat anything, so I’m saying it outright. You’re dying."

Phil’s eyebrows shot up and he felt Clint squeeze his hand. He maintained a straight face, but the slight scrunch his nose made told Phil that his husband was just as concerned by this news if not more.

"The liquid they injected you with contained traces of what appears to be AIM’s latest experiment. It’s still in the development stages so the effects are not that noticeable yet but they’re there." The doctor explained. "Yes. Based on the research that we’ve managed to gather, It’s supposed to make you stronger, regenerate faster. Something like what the super soldier serum would’ve done. But the bloodstream doesn’t accept such foreign substances so openly. Your body will either accept or fight the substance. If it fights, you will lose. And right now, your body is fighting it."

Phil swallowed the lump in his throat and sucked in a breath. Clint gripped Phil’s hands tighter. “How long?” Phil braved.

"1 week. I’m so sorry"

Phil heard Clint gasp. He turned to the archer to see him looking at him with so much sadness and fear, that there was nothing more to do than pull down the archer’s head to his shoulder, petting it soothingly.

 Clint raised his arms to hug Phil, who said nothing. 

_Everything was going to be fine. It was going to be. It had to be._

—-

Natasha shook nervously as she pointed the gun at the man.

"I’m sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see how you’d react." He said, a sly smile appearing on the gentle face.

She lowered her gun and brought her hand up to her ear. “Stand down” she said into the comms. 

The man smirked. “Just you and me, huh?”

Natasha was not going to grace that with a response. The phone Natasha used earlier rang; which was weird since it wasn’t supposed to do that. She picked it up with delicate hands and stared at the caller ID, unknown number. Of course. Natasha answered the phone but did not speak. That seemed enough for the person on the other line.

"Coulson is dying." Natasha’s heart nearly stopped at the news. It was Melinda’s voice. 

"How?" She didn’t let anything give her away, even though inside she felt like bolting from this place running to Coulson and Clint and… and… she didn’t know what she’d do when she got there, but that didn’t mean the desire to be next to them right at this moment is any smaller.

"AIM" Natasha nodded. She remembers that last mission. Coulson was kidnapped and was retrieved from an operating table. Ever since, He’d been acting differently. He’d unintentionally break down doors and the next day he’d be shaking like a leaf. 

"How long?"

"a week." May’s voice sounded hoarse, like she’d been quietly mourning over this for the past hour non-stop. "I’m going to hack into AIM’s mainframe and get everything on the substance they injected on Coulson." May said with finality.

"Okay. Keep me posted." Natasha ended the call and looked up at the man who was still standing in front of her. He was now twiddling with his hands, looking down at them. "Doctor Banner" she called out and he looked up. "How would you feel about a side project before we head to SHIELD?"


	2. Chapter 2

Clint paced the hall. He sat next to Natasha and May before the anxiety ate him up and he had to pace again. He did this 3 more times before Natasha finally stilled him with a hand on his knee.

“Clint.” She said softly.

Clint shook his head and groaned. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m just-”

“No, it’s not that.” Natasha told him. “I just- I’m here if you need to talk.” 

Clint nodded. “Thank you.” 

“Doctor Banner is the best at what he does. If anyone can find a solution to this, it’s him.” May told him encouragingly.

“I- You’re right.” Clint nodded absently. 

Just then, Dr. Banner came out of the lab where they were currently keeping Phil, not the best accommodation but it was the nearest to Dr. Banner’s own lab.

The trio immediately stood up to meet the good doctor halfway. “What happened? Is he going to be okay?” Clint asked rather frantically. 

Bruce looked down at his hands and shook his head. “I’m afraid whatever it was that was injected into Agent Coulson had the capability to multiply faster than anything that could fight it which was not a long list to begin with since whatever this serum contained had the capability to fight off anything we had. And if the serum has been in his system for as long as you tell me, then it might have already taken over his system. I’m truly sorry. There’s nothing more I could do.” 

Clint felt absolutely nothing. Not the kind where you’re just so at peace with everything that’s going on that you don’t even realize what’s happening in front of you kind of nothing; more like numb-nothing. Like every last drop of fight was drained out of him with the delivery of that news and doing anything otherwise would be pointless, He felt nothing.

Natasha placed a hand on his arm, a comforting gesture for which Clint is thankful for, and he turned towards her. “Go. Be with him. We’ll catch up with you guys in a few minutes.” Natasha tried her best to smile, and so did May. 

Clint gave them both a nod before he entered the lab. 

Phil was sitting on his cot looking as healthy as any other SHIELD agent on the field, the picture of perfect health, dying as every second ticked by. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Clint asked, jumping on to the cot with him.

“Tired, for the most part.” Phil confessed. “Bruce tell you everything?”

Clint nodded. “Are you okay?”

Phil shrugged. “I always knew I was going to die because of this job someday. I’d already accepted that.” He turned a brittle smile towards Clint, then to the floor. “I just thought it’d be because of a bullet or something.”

Clint bumped shoulders with him, a smile on his face. “It’s a fitting end to the legendary Agent Coulson if you ask me. Of course, a normal bullet wouldn’t kill you. If you were going out, you had to go out in style, right?” Clint tried.

Phil huffed. “I guess.” Phil took Clint’s hand and squeezed it. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“This isn’t my favorite day, I can tell you that.” Phil scoffed at that, making Clint smile a little.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Phil whispered.

Clint felt Phil’s hand trembling in his. “Yeah?”

“I’m scared, Clint.” Phil said in the quietest voice Clint’s ever heard him speak in. Clint pulled him into his arms and hushed him as Phil quietly sobbed. 

“Sshh. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m going to be here all night, okay? I’m going to be with you all night.” Clint promised. 

Clint kept his promise and they stayed like that all through the night, talking about everything that came to mind and revisiting their memories up until Phil fell asleep, and Clint only had the steady beeping of the machine beside them as companion. Clint kissed the top of Phil’s head and let the sounds lull him to sleep.

When he woke up, it was to the sound of one continuous tone. 

Clint finally allowed himself to cry then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/129156516201/this-is-a-continuation-to-this-fic-because-its)

**Author's Note:**

> [Find on tumblr here](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/86292588016/oh-gahd-i-swear-im-going-to-melt-any-moment)


End file.
